Load retaining device



Dec. 18, 1962 c. c. DE PEW 3,069,191

LOAD RETAINING DEVICE Filed April 13, 1961 INVENTOR CZESTER 6. DEPEW BY ATTORNEYS I United States Patent Ofitice dfidhddl Patented Dec. 18, 19 62 3,669,191 LOAD RETAHNENG DEVICE Chester C. De Pew, Farmingdale, N.Y., assignor to Aerpat A.G., Glarns, Switzerland, a corporation of Switzerland Filed Apr. 13, 196i, Ser. No. M2376 7 (Ilaims. (Cl. 287-119) This invention relates to load retaining devices and more particularly, it concerns a retaining device of the type having particular utility for retaining upon a support, a load lifted or otherwise drawn to the support by a winch or other power means through a cable.

An object of this invention is to provide a new and unique retaining device which is adapted to releasably support heavy loads in a highly effective manner.

Another object of this invention is a load retaining device of the type aforementioned which is devoid of complicated parts and thus low in cost yet substantially foolproof in operation.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a load retaining deviceof the type referred to which is completely automatic in operation to engage and retain a lifted load and which is very easily manipulated to release the lifted load.

Another object of this invention is to provide a load retaining device of the type referred to by which the detachable connection of a lifting cable to a load or load connected member is greatly facilitated.

Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, is given by way of illustration only, since it will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this description that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention.

In general, the aforementioned objectives are achieved by a load retaining device including a body formed to be attached to a supporting structure and having a tubular wall portion extending therefrom to define an open ended chamber. A load connected member supported on the end of a cable threaded through an aperture in the end of the body chamber opposite from the open end is adapted to be received in the chamber and held there against the weight of the load by a plurality of detents disposed in the body chamber wall. The detents are received when in a retracted condition in a recess formed in an axially biased sleeve slidably carried exteriorly of the tubular Wall portion, the sleeve being locked against its axial bias to a position ermitting retraction of the detents. The means for latching the sleeve is releasable upon insertion of the load connected member into the chamber and upon release slides axially to move the detents into engagement with the load connected member thereby retaining it Within thechamber and securing the load to the support to which the body is attached.

A more complete understanding of the load retaining device of this invention and its method of use may be had by reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing in elevation the load retaining device of this invention as a load is being raised into its ultimate retained position;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along lines 22 of FIG. '1; and

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view similar to MG. 1 but showing the device in its load retaining position.

Referring now to the drawings, the load retaining device of this invention is shown including a body lil, having a radially extending flange portion 12 through which holes 14 are bored to facilitate mounting the body on the underside of a support such as an airplane wing or the like, though other means such as welding may be used to mount the body. A tubular wall portion 16 extends downwardly from the body ill to define an openended chamber is. Preferably, the wall 16 is cylindrical, though it is contemplated that other shapes may be used in keeping within the scope of the invention.

Receivable in the chamber 18 is a load connected member 2% preferably of a spherical configuration adapted to be connected to a load part 21, such as by an interiorly threaded recess 22 in the lower end thereof. The upper end of the load connected member 2b is detachably connected to a coupling device 23 which in turn is connected to terminal ferrule 24 of a lifting cable. The cable coupler 23 extends through an aperture 25 in the closed end of the body 10 and is provided with a barrel 26 having ball detents 27 held outwardly by a central pin 23 into locking engagement with a downwardly facing shoulder 29 near the upper end of a central aperture 3% in the member Ztl. The bottom of the aperture 36 is closed by a disc 32 on which rests a compression spring 34 for biasing upwardly an inverted cupshaped member 36-. The cable coupler 23 is releasedv either manually or electrically by causing the central pin 23 to move upwardly against abiasing spring 38, and this is accomplished by connecting pin 23 with a sleeve 40 slidably carried by the cable ferrule 24-, the connection being effected by a pin 46a passing through the sleeve 40 and through the upper end portion of a stern 28a on pin 28. Ferrule 24 is slotted to permit limited vertical movement of sleeve it; which may be accomplished by manually pulling upwardly on the sleeve, or the sleeve may be pulled upwardly by arranging a magnet winding 41 above the sleeve to pull it upwardly but permitting the cable to run through the winding in raising and lowering the load. The pin 28 is formed having a reduced end portion 42 so that upward movement thereof permits retraction of the ball detents 27 from engagement with the shoulder 29, thereby permitting the spring 34 to eject the barrel 26 from the aperture Ell to disconnect the cable from the load. A cable coupler similar to that described above is disclosed and claimed in the copending application of D. W. Price et al. Ser. No. 755,775, filed August 18, 1958, now Patent No. 3,011,239.

The lower end portion of the wall 16 is provided with a plurality of apertures 44 within which are mounted ball detents 46. The interior edge of the apertures 44 is suitably peened or staked (not shown) to prevent the balls from moving into the chamber 18 and thus being removed from the body. Slidably mounted on the exterior of the wall 16 is a sleeve 48 axially biased by a compression spring 54 disposed between the body flange 12 and an annular ledge 52 in the sleeve. The sleeve 48 is further provided with an interior annular recess 54 which, when the sleeve is in the position indicated in FIG. 1, serves to permit the ball detents 46 to be retracted out of the chamber 18, thereby permitting the entry or withdrawal of the load connected member 20 to or from the chamber in a manner which will become apparent from the description which follows below. To

secure the sleeve 48 in the position shown in FIG. 1 so that retraction of the detents 46 is possible, the sleeve carries a contractible ring 56 in an annular groove 58. A groove to is provided in the annular wall 16, which groove is dimensioned similarly as the groove 58 but of a depth less than the radial extent of the ring 56, so that when the ring is in a contracted position such as is shown in FIG. 1, it is located partly in the groove 60 and partly in the groove 58 and thereby prevents axial movement of the sleeve 48.

A second group of apertures 62 are formed in the wall 16 and in the same plane as the groove 60, for receiving ring expanding elements preferably in the form of spherical balls 64. The inner edges of the aperture 62 adjacent the chamber 18 are also peened or staked as the apertures 44 to prevent removal of the balls 64 therefrom. The balls 64, it will be noted, are of a diameter substantially equal to the thickness of the wall 16 so that when the ring 56 is in a contracted position, the balls 64 are urged partially into the chamber 18. When, on the other hand, the balls 64 are moved radially outwardly so as to be within the confines of the wall 16, the ring 56 is necessarily expanded or moved outwardly so as to be free of the groove 65 and the ring 56 does not prevent axial movement of sleeve 43.

To insure against accidental disassembly of the members, the lower end of the wall 16 mounts on its exterior side, retaining rings 65 which are positioned to permit axial movement of the sleeve to the extent that the shoulder 55 of the recess 54 may be moved past the ball detents 46, but engagement of the shoulder 55 with the ring 66 prevents removal of the sleeve from the annular wall 16. Of course, movement of the sleeve in the opposite direction is prevented by the flange 12.

In operation, it is assumed that the load with the parts 20 and 21 connected thereto is located on the ground or deck below the body 10 and is to be elevated to the body and suspended from the body. The cable coupler 23 with the cable attached thereto is lowered through the opening 25 and the coupler 23 is inserted into the aperture 36 of the load-connected member Ztl. When these parts have been so assembled, a lifting or pulling force is applied to the cable, thereby elevating the load. Prior to lifting, the sleeve 43 will be locked in the position shown in FIG. 1 and will be held against the bias of the spring it) by engagement of the contractible ring 56 in the groove 66, thereby permitting the ball detents 46 to move outwardly of the chamber 18. Thus, as the load connected member 20 rises under the lift applied to the cable, it enters the chamber 18, moves past the ball detents 46 and engages the ring expanding elements 64. As the member 20 moves past the balls 64, the ring 56 is expanded out of the groove 60, permitting the sleeve 48 to be moved downwardly and forcing the detents 46 inwardly into engagement under the major diameter of the member 20 as shown in FIG. 3. Since the detents 46 are bound by the sleeve 48, no outward movement thereof is possible, and accordingly, the load connected member 20 is firmly retained within the chamber 18 against the Weight of the load.

When it is desired to release the member 2% from the chamber 18, a force is again applied to the cable 245 sufficiently to take the weight off the ball detents 46. While the weight is so taken up, the sleeve 48 is lifted against the bias of spring 50, and the load is then lowered until it passes below the level of the balls 64, at which time the contractible ring 56 engages the groove 60 to retain the sleeve 48 in the position of FIG. 1 ready for another cycle. After the load has been lowered, to the desired location, the cable may be disconnected from the load by release of the coupler 23 from member 20.

Thus it will be seen that by this invention there is provided an extremely effective load retaining device which is fully automatic to engage and support a lifted load and is very simply actuated to release the load. Furthermore, the operation of the retaining device requires no special tools or special mechanical ability.

Accordingly, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that the foregoing objectives are fully realized and further, that while the described embodiment is a preferred form of the invention, other forms and embodiments may be used without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A load retaining device comprising: a body; a tubular wall portion extending from said body to define an open ended chamber; a load connected member receivable in said chamber; an axially biased sleeve slidably mounted exteriorly of said tubular wall portion, said sleeve having an annular recessed portion therein; a plurality of detents in said tubular wall portion; and means for holding said sleeve against its axial bias to a position in which said detents are retracted within the recessed portion of said sleeve, said means including an element extending into said chamber and movable outwardly by said load connected member to release said sleeve for axial movement to effect movement of said detents to engage said load connected member for retaining it in said chamber.

2. A load retaining device comprising: a body; an annular wall portion on said body defining an open ended chamber and having a peripheral groove in the exterior thereof; a load connected member receivable in said chamber; an axially biased sleeve slidably mounted on the exterior of said wall portion; said sleeve having an annular recess formed therein; a plurality of detents in said wall portion; a contractible ring carried on said sleeve and being engageable in said Wall portion groove to hold said sleeve against its axial bias in a position permitting retraction of said detents into said sleeve recess; and a plurality of ring expanding elements mounted for movement in radial apertures in said wall portion at the location of said groove and having a radial dimension equal to the thickness of said wall portion, said expanding elements engaging the inner surface of said ring and being biased by said ring to extend partially into said chamber and being engaged by said load connected member upon entering said chamber to effect movement of said elements outwardly to expand said ring, and release said sleeve for movement of said detents to a position to retain said member within said chamber.

3. The device recited in claim 2 in which that portion of said load connected member adjacent said wall is spherical.

4. The device recited in claim 2 in which said ring expanding elements are spherical balls.

5. The device recited in claim 2 in which said detents are spherical balls having a diameter substantially greater than the thickness of said wall.

6. The device recited in claim 2 including a lifting cable; means for detachably connecting said cable to said lead connected member.

7. The device recited in claim 6 in which said cable and said means for detachably connecting said cable extend through an aperture in said body coaxial with said open ended chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,755,105 Wells July 17, 1956 

